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Have an Art Car? Got a story?
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Becky Morris
Art cars weren’t on Becky
Morris’ map when she completed her degrees in environmental management and
business administration. But then again, neither was cancer. She thought
she would continue in the academic world and earn her doctorate. Then,
night sweats, and an ongoing 102-degree temperature and a lump on the side
of her neck took her down a different road.
When she saw a General
Surgeon for a biopsy, he suggested she see an Oncologist. “I thought that
whatever it was, it couldn’t be too bad because that was a funny name for
a doctor. Anyway, even when they told me it was Hodgkin’s disease; I
didn’t know that was cancer until I got on the Internet.”
Both her mother and
grandmother had died from cancer, so it didn’t surprise her that at age 38
and a mother of four sons, she had Stage IV-B Lymphoma. That was in
1993. She had surgery, chemotherapy and radiation into 1994.
During treatment, she
worked out at the gym five to six days a week for two to three hours at a
time.
I named the various
exercises after my doctors and treatments,” she says. “There’s nothing
like punching chemotherapy in the face. My plan was to push the chemicals
through my body faster, better and survive.”
After cancer treatment,
it didn’t take her long to realize that her brain didn’t function the same
way. She found she couldn’t focus on the academics anymore. It took me a
while to truly understand what ‘chemo brain’ meant. I remember during
chemo it felt as if brain cells were exploding, but I didn’t consider that
it really was happening.”
It was during this time
that she saw her first art car. But she never thought of owning one until
she had three accidents in one month—none, she’s quick to add, were her
fault. When she discovered that repairs to make the car look “normal”
would cost $3,500, she created “My Life”. She kept it until December
2004, when she sold it to help her son who had a liver transplant in 1991
and must stay on very expensive anti-rejection medication. And in no time
at all, she bought a convertible Mustang, with a rebuilt transmission and
engine, for $5 from some art car buddies. That’s what she’s still driving
today. The inspiration for decorating this one came from a design she saw
in a fabric shop. It’s called “Wheels of Imagination.”
She still had her second
art car, “The Toy Dragon,” though. A rusty, white Ford Fiesta, given to
her by Russian astronauts who were leaving the country, she painted it
royal blue and designed a dragon on the hood.
Today, she paints “art
car” license plates, does hubcap art and coordinates special fund-raising
events, conferences and entertainment. She also aspires to backpack the
full length of the Appalachian Trail.
After surviving cancer,
she follows the creed, “Life is an adventure.” And she intends to live it
that way. |
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"Aero Car"
by Dave Major, Benton, KS. |
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photo by Harrod Blank |
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Posted on Sun, Aug. 25, 2002
'Aero' dynamic
This 1959 BMW 600 flies in the face of convention -- even if it can't
leave the ground.
BY MIKE BERRY,
The Wichita Eagle When Dave Major rolls up in his little, one-of-a-kind car, its stubby
wooden propeller spinning on the swing-away front door, there's just no
fighting the grin that spreads across your face.
His 1959 BMW 600 "aero car"
looks for all the world like some kind of flying phone booth, complete
with downsized wings jutting out from the sides and an airplane tail
section sprouting out of the roof.
"This is our 'smiley car,' " says his wife, Irene. "It
makes me smile every time I see it."
"I drove one of these cars in the '60s when I was in college at WSU, when
we were dating," said Dave Major, 61, of Benton. He taught junior high
school classes for 30 years and then went on to log 10 years in the
aircraft industry before retiring recently.
"I remember it had no heat. And he could drive it on sidewalks," said
Irene, who never thought such a car would live on into their future. She's
glad now that it did.
Ten years ago, Dave met up with Fred Scritt, a Grand Island, Neb., street
rodder and customizer, who had bought the car from a family whose four
daughters drove it to high school, with almost no mechanical problems.
Similar to the more widely known BMW Isetta, a two-seater with one door,
the BMW 600 was built to haul four people and has a second side door.
Powered by a 600 cc BMW four-stroke motorcycle engine, after 67,000 street
miles, the little four-speed stick shift can still hit its top speed of 62
mph and return 60 miles to the gallon, no problem.
Although the even smaller Isetta had been a success, the BMW 600, built
only in 1958-59, flopped. About 2,000 of the cars were sold in the United
States, with about 30 left in roadworthy condition today.
After Major bought the car, he teamed with Scritt to make it something
special.
"I'm a big airplane fan, so we decided to do something with an aviation
theme," he said. He gives Scritt the credit for the big stuff: adding the
custom-fabricated steel wings and seamlessly grafting on the tail-section
of an ill-fated homebuilt airplane that had crashed harmlessly from an
altitude of about 2 feet while trying to earn a spot in the Guinness Book
of World Records as the world's smallest flyable airplane.
Major's touches included using aircraft wing-tip marker lights for tail
lights and installing 220 mph rated, 10-inch aircraft tires and wheels. He
also installed fully functional aircraft instruments: an altimeter, an
airspeed indicator and an aircraft compass.
The propeller is just for show, driven by a windshield wiper motor. But a
lot of people think the Majors' strange little car really can fly, Irene
Major said.
They have shown the car at many regional custom car shows, but it has now
found a new role.
"This is what they call an art car, a sculptured car," Dave Major said.
The car is in demand as an attention-getter at arts and music festivals,
and he has hauled it more than 12,000 miles so far this summer.
"It's a good way for us to take vacations together, and it's a lot of fun
to show," he said.
"It attracts a lot of attention," Irene Major said, still smiling.
© 2001 kansas and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.kansas.com
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"The Stink-Bug"
by Carolyn Stapleton, Goldenrod, FL.
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photo by Michael Pilletere |
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The “Stink-bug” is the 2nd place winner
(from 300+) of the 2000 “Orange Show Art Car Parade” held annually
in Houston Texas. A featured artist in the soon to be released
feature documentary film “Wild Wheels II.” As well as the recent
book “Art Cars, the cars, the artists, the obsession, the craft”
both by Harrod Blank.
Conceived of and created by Carolyn Stapleton the
Stink-bug is a re-in-car-nation of her 1st art car,
“Litter-bug.”(1990-1998.)
Like its predecessor, it is a mute statement, or a
‘visual pun.” They both say something about who we are, what we
consume, what we throw away (and where we choose to throw it.)
Unlike Stapleton’s 1st effort, (entirely
decorated with an array of colorful, interesting and obnoxious forms
of litter), the “Stink-bug” is detailed with mosaic patterns of what
she considers to be the most unsightly and insidious of all
pollutants: cigarette butts.
This movable mosaic (which appears to be covered in
bits of bamboo at a distance) is startling in its intricacies when
viewed close-up, often surprising 1st time viewers who
can be heard blurting out “Oh my God” when it dawns on them what the
texture and designs are comprised of. Mosaic details on the car
include: “Kick Butt” above the windshield, Scull and crossbones on
the hood, and spelled out across the roof is her tribute to Motown
“Stop in the name of lungs” When seen as a shape, texture, color and
a “free material” the former cigarette is transformed from an
unsightly form of “litter,” and the by-product of a nasty habit, to
an effective commentary and dare we say, Art.
Another aspect of the Stink-bug is its ability to act as the
artist’s personal tribute to friends, and strangers, whose lives
have been deeply affected by smoking related illnesses. Her “bug” is
a tribute to those who smoked and didn’t stop, couldn’t stop, (or
stopped too late) and those who loved them. In a small way it is her
unusual way of honoring the art and the losses that connect us all.
Stapleton has recently begun work on her 3rd
Art car to be debuted in 2006. This car will be “entirely different”
from the previous cars and artistic amalgamation of art, texture,
beauty and possibly alternative energy.
For additional
photos (including the litter-bug) information and a plethora of
answers to “frequently asked questions,” visit her website at
www.thestinkbug.com |
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